Combined pehholdeb and lettek-balaktce



DNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

D. CLINTON LAURENCE, OF CEDAR FALLS, IOWA.

COMBINED PENHOLDER AND LETTER-BALANCE.

Specication 0I" Letters Patent No. 33,091, dated .August 20, i861.

To all whom fit' may concern:

Be it known that l, D. CLINTON LAURENCE, of Cedar Falls, Blackhawk county, and State of Iowa., have invented a certain new and useful instrument or implement which I term a Combined 'Writing-Pen and Letter-llleighing Apparatus; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specitication, in which- Figure l. represents a view of the combined pen and weighing apparatus in the hand of the user. -Eig. 2. represents a longitudinal section through the entire apparatus. Fig. 3. represents a view of the implement or apparatus, showing by red lines how the pen may be secured in the tube that constitutes the handle or case for holding the apparatus, or its parts. F ig. a. represents a shield :tor protecting the pen, or the jaws, that hold the letter,`or both. Fig. 5. represents a longitudinal section ot a modication of the construction shown in E ig. 2,

the difference being mainly, that in the first named figure the weight compresses, while in the last named ligure-the weight elongates the spring-the principle being the same in both cases-and the construction varying but slightly.

Similar letters of reference where they occur in the several figures, denote like parts of the apparatus in all the drawings.

A convenient, accurate, portable, letterweighing apparatus, has long been sought for, but never heretofore made, or put into general use. Vfith a view of supplying this much desired apparatus, l have combined it with a pen, so that the same instrument thatwrites a letter, may be made the instrument by which its weight, or-cost ot transportation by mail may also be ascertained. And that this instrument or apparatus may be reliable, l have divested it of everything likely to disarrange it, or put it out of order ,-its extreme simplicity not only lessens it in price, but lessens the liability ot getting out orn order. So that l produce an apparatus that is reliable, very cheap, portable, and that has never heretofore been a commercial article, or on sale, or in use.

My invention consists in combining with an instrument for writing a letter an apparatus for ascertaining its weight, or cost ot transportation, or both, as will be explained.

To enable those skilled in `the art t-o `make and use my invention, l will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

a, is a light metallic tube, such as are now in use for penhandles, and having' a pen and a pen-holder c, at one. end ot said tube or handle. rhe object of the pen-holder c, is simply that it may be put into the tube ither end foremost, for the purpose in the tirst place ot so placing' the pen as to be conveniently used, and secondly for .protecting it, when not in use, by sliding it into the tube. But ot' course any other pen, or penholder may be used instead of that represented and described,-and by pen, l desire to be understood as meaning any known instrument ior writing' or marking. And instead of reversing the pen-holder, or having to remove the pen troml its position for security against injury in carrying it, al shield-such as that shown at d, Fig. a, may be slipped over it.

ln the tube a, or that part of the apparatus that constitutes the peu-handle, there is a spiral spring c, and a rod the spring may be entirely concealed wit-hin the tube, so as to be shielded from any injury; and the rod projects through a suitable slot or opening at the end g ot the tube, and is 'turnished with a pair ot spring jaws or holders 2', that will receive and hold a letter between them, as shown in red in Fig. l. The rod l prefer to have flattened, so as to mark upon it the gures that denote the weight of the letter' held between the 2f, or the amount of post-age, at any iixed rate for weight, as also to prevent it from turning around in the tube. And this rod, as in Fig. 2, may be separate trom the spring c, and have a button n to prevent it from leaving the spring.

As shown in Eig. 2, the act ot weighing compresses the spring c, and the weight is exposed, or signified, by the drawing out of the rod as shown in Fig. l, where the supposed, or imaginary letter there shown weighs more than one ounce, but not exceeding one ounce and a halt, and the postage is therefore indicated as nine cents. ln Fig. 5,

however, l have shown the spring and rod, as being in one piece, and the button dispensed with-the spring' being' held in place by simply milling the tube as at mf, and making the last coil et the spring-as at 0, large enough to catch into, and hold itself in said milled, or otherwise formed groove or recess; and thus arranged, the act of weighing, elongates the spring; but the rod is drawn out of the tube, and exposes the iigures er marks thereon, in precisely the same manner as that above described.

The half-lines on the tace of rod f, indicate half-ounce weight; and full lines, or the lines which extend across the :tace of rod f, indicate ounce weight; and the number of ounces and an excess in halt-ounces, up to the capacity of the weighing apparatus, are indicated in figures at said lines. This is clearly shown in Fig. 6, in which the capacity of the scale extends up to two ounces. In .using the implement for the purpose of weighing letters, the following directions may be observed, viz.: lVhen the rod is drawn down from the bottom of tube a, a less distance than the first halfline on said rod, or so that said halt-line and bottom will coincide, then the postage will be 3 cents, which postage is indicated by the appropriate figure on the left hand side of said rod; when the rod f is drawn down Vso as to expose the space anywhere between the first half-line, and the irst full, or ounce Y line, or, so that the ounce line and bottom will coincide, then the postage is six cents, which postage is indicated by the appropriate ligure on the left hand side of said rod: and when the rod f is drawn down so as to bring the first full, or ounce line, below the bottom j, then the postage is 9 cents; which postage is indicated by the appropriate igure on the left hand side of said rod; and so on to the extent of the capacity of the scale; the rate of United States postage on letters, being, for any weight less, and up to a half ounce, 3 cents; and 3 cents additional for every additional half ounce, or fraction of an ounce. Of course, it is apparent, that if the rate of postage should at any time be changed, such new rate, could readily be adapted t0 the implement. And it is also apparent, that two distinct rates of postage could be indicated by the implement; as for instance,-the United States postage could be indicated on one side of the rod f, and the rate of postage of the Canarias, on the opposite side of said rod.

To protect the aws from injury, by carrying this implement, or apparatus, in the pocket, a shield or sleeve (Z, as at Fig. t, may be used. The advantage of having the spring jaws to protrude from the tube, is this, that kthe letter is much more easily inserted between the jaws-otherwise the jaws might be allowed to draw themselves within the tube.

The shields that protect the pen, and spring aws, instead of being detached from the pen-handle, may be made telescopic, s0 as to slide over the parts to be protected; and when these parts are to be used, then the shield, or shields may be slid back onto, or into, the handle. The pen-holder c, may be dispensed with if preferred, and the pen secured immediately to the tube in any of the usual well known ways, and thus the tube or handle be made shorter, or more of its interior be economized. The spring e should be made so as to work within tube L without coming in contact therewith so as to endanger accuracy in weighing. The whole apparatus can be easily placed within the length of an ordinary pen-handle.

Having thus explained the nature and 0bject of my invention, what l claim is- A combined writing instrument, and weighing apparatus, constructed and operating substalltially as herein described.

D. CLNTON LAURENCE.

Vitnesses MARCUS LANE, Ro'r. VQFENWICK. 

